Valuing each drop:A woman enjoying the monsoon rain on the outskirts of Guwahati on Saturday.Ritu Raj Konwar

Concerned about the water crisis in rural areas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written a personal letter to gram pradhans (village chiefs) requesting them to conserve rainwater.

The letter, signed by the PM, has been hand-delivered to the pradhans through the respective District Magistrates or Collectors.

In several rural belts, the PM’s letter has become a talking point. For instance, at Sonbhadra near Mr. Modi’s constituency in Varanasi, the letter has been delivered to 637 village chiefs, requesting them to make personal efforts to encourage people to start conserving rainwater.

Written in Hindi with a personal touch, the PM says, “Dear Sarpanchji , namaskar . I hope that you and all my brothers and sisters of the panchayat would be in the best of health. The rainy season is about to begin. We are grateful to God that we have been blessed by enough rainwater. We should make all efforts and arrange to conserve this blessing.” The PM has made a request to the pradhans in his one-page letter that they should convene a meeting of the gram sabha (village assembly) and his message be read out. “It is requested that a discussion should be held in the village ... I have faith in all of you that adequate arrangements would be made to save every drop.”

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